


Frozen Relic

by Skinna_the_Gecko



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:08:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24725782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skinna_the_Gecko/pseuds/Skinna_the_Gecko
Summary: Tails finally makes a life and home for himself, after the loss of his brother, Sonic. Until something happens to shake that all up
Relationships: Miles "Tails" Prower/Sticks the Badger
Comments: 5
Kudos: 13





	Frozen Relic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [but_why_not](https://archiveofourown.org/users/but_why_not/gifts).



> Say thank you to but_why_not for beta reading this fic and check out their work.

20 years. It had been 20 years since his brother was officially pronounced dead to the world. It hurts Tails everyday. Everyone thought he was running around, recharging after the major battle he had with Eggman. It required his super form to stop the giant robot from destroying cities, as it was charged with Chaos energy straight from the emeralds. 

He remembered that day, Tails tried to fight the vivid images burned into his mind. The screaming of bending metal ringing in his ears. Twenty years ago yet still as loud. He grabbed the closest thing to him, trying to ground himself in the present, in reality. But it was too late, he was already back there, eyes flitting shut and he succumbed to the memories.

Tails looked to the air and watched on as the golden hedgehog flew around the giant robot. He was looking out for a weak point as he distracted his archenemy. Flashes from strikes and blows exchanged between both fighters. The images and sound filled his eyes, the groan of bending metal calling out as they exchanged blows. The robot fell backwards into the water, metal screeching together as it falls while Eggman ejected from it and flew away in his Egg-Mobile. 

His brother floated near the robot, making sure it wasn’t functioning. Smoke was seeping out from between the metal plate but it didn’t seem like it would cause any more damage. The super charged hero turned to Tails, who was still back on the mainland, giving him his signature thumbs up. 

Suddenly, Tails was blinded by a bright light exploding from the robot. Once the light had dissipated, Tails looked to where the robot was. It was gone, along with his brother. Tails was worried for a moment but thought he should be ok. He was pretty powerful in his super form, so he must be fine. 

He had to be. 

They looked all over the city with his friends but couldn’t find him. Days later, he didn’t show up. 

He never did.

Tails shook his head, trying to shake the memory from his head. He had searched for his brother for nearly a year before his friends had to intervene. 

To try and move on from his brother's disappearance, he poured all of his focus into restoring the Roboticizer to its original purpose, seeking to bring some good amongst the loss. 

While running to a junkyard looking for parts for the machine he was jumped and pinned to the ground. That’s when he first laid his eyes on her. Tails didn’t know what it was about the badger, her voice, spunk or maybe the way she rambled on about government conspiracies. After managing to calm her down and getting her off him, he explained he just needed parts and left. Whenever he needed more materials, Tails returned to see her, occasionally making conversation with her, slowly getting her to open up. He was even able to get her name after some time, Sticks. They soon became friends and Tails visited her, even after the Roboticizer was finished. 

He was lucky to have her throughout the years. She helped him out so much; made him laugh and smile again, and showed so many amazing secrets about nature. When he was in his mid teens, he had grown a new tail, seemingly overnight. Thankfully, Sticks was there to keep him calm. She helped Tails figure out that he wasn’t a fox, but a Kitsune. It was a very rare gene apparently. Tails, bless his little heart, finally worked up the courage to ask her out on a date when they were 17. He had to leave the room to silently celebrate when Sticks said yes. 

Here he was years later, he and Sticks had married and had two great kids. The first was a 7 year old fox girl, named Twister. A fox like her father, Twister had nonetheless inherited her mother's markings and unruly fur, tufts on her ears sticking up no matter how much she tried to tame them. Twister was just as sharp as her father but with the stubbornness of her mother. 

Their second, a 5 year old badger boy, named Dusty, was as adventurous and frisky as his mother, but sweet and kind like his dad. Dusty had the same messy whiskers that Tails did, but where his father's yellow and white young badger was white and yellow, an inverted image of his dad. 

Tails was happy where he was, but always got upset thinking back on his brother’s disappearance. He couldn’t even think or say his name anymore without having a pity party for himself. He leaned back into his computer chair, sighing as he rubbed the temples on the side of his head. “I think I just need a brake,” he stood up from his chair and stretched his legs out. 

He walked out of his home office, his little office was on the second floor of the house. Tails could hear his wife and kids downstairs chatting and laughing. He smiled to himself and headed downstairs. He was met with a little orange badger dashing towards, Tails almost fell up the stairs as his son jumped up at him. 

“Oof,” gaining his balance back and looked down to Dusty, who was clinging to his dad, “Hey, little dust mite. How was school?”

“It was so boring! All we did was count numbers and stuff!” He groaned. Dusty was never the one to enjoy school.

Tails ruffled the top of his son's head, “That’s what school is for kiddo. You gotta learn how to ‘count numbers and stuff’.” He managed to pry his son off him and set him down. 

“Daddy!” He looked up from Dusty and saw his daughter running towards him.

“Oh come o-,” he fell over as both Twister jumped on him and Dusty followed suit afterwards, thinking it was fun. “Hey, Twister.”

She giggled, “Hi daddy!”

“Ok you two, what have I said about tackling your dad?” Tails looked to his left as his kids scrambled off him and saw the love of his life, Sticks. She was wearing a shirt that was ripped at the bottom, long pants that had dirt stains everywhere and mismatched shoes on. 

Tails raised an eyebrow, “You know you’re taking Dusty to his scouts thing, right?”

Sticks rolled her eyes, “As if I care what those upper class, flashy, snobs think. I’m taking my kid to a group thing that basically requires you to get mud, dirt and twigs in ya fur. If I wear my good clothes, they would get ruined.”

Tails hummed to himself while sitting up, “You got a poi- Wait. You do know that because of my work, we technically fall in the upper class category?”

She shrugged, “Eh, details.” The older badger gives him a hand to help him up, “Just because you’re a fancy shmancy owner of a tech company and make hundreds of thousands of rings each year, doesn’t mean I got to be all snobby, like other folk.”

“But,” Tails gave her a look of confusion before he let out a sigh, “whatever you say. I haven't been to one of these meetings yet, but I trust your judgement.”

“We would be here if ya didn’t,” Sticks hugged him and gave him a peck on the cheek. Tails smiled and returned the gesture. But the moment was ruined when they heard their children gagging next to them, “Alright, alright! Come on Dusty, get your hat and sash and we’ll get going.” She clapped her hands as she followed the little badger up the stairs.

Tails turned to his daughter, who gave him a smile and giggle. Tails smiled in return, “So, how was my little cinnamon twist’s day?”

She perked up and started to look nervous, “Oh, well. Nothing too interesting. You know,” Twister kicked her foot shyly, “numbers and stuff.”

The older vulpine raised an eyebrow. He knew something was up, his daughter only gets nervous when she’s done something wrong. Tails crossed his arms and gave him a stern look, “really? Is that so?”

“Yep. Haha, well, I better go to my room and get on to doing homework. It’s not going to solve itself!” Twister quickly turned to run up the stairs. She was half way up before her father called for her.

“Twister Prower, get your fluffy tail down here this second!” The little girl slowly shuffled down the stairs, ears flopped down and eyes not meeting his. Tails kept his gaze on her as she got down the stairs, “What did you do?”

“I may or may not of, tinkered with one of the projectors in the classroom to make it shoot lasers...” she gave him a big nervous smile.

Tails shook his head, “Where’s the slip so I could sign it?”

Twister gave him a confused, “Slip? What slip?” Tails raised an eyebrow once more before Twister snapped her fingers as if she realised what he was saying, “oh, right. The detention slip. Oh man, you are gunna laugh when I tell you what happened to it.”

Her dad pinched the bridge of his nose, “You used the laser to get rid of the slip didn’t you.”

“Um, maybe?” Twister gave him a nervous smile again before her smile fell, “I’m sorry Daddy, I just like tinkering with things and making something new out of old stuff.”

“I know Twist. You get that from me,” Tails set his head on his hand and thought for a minute, while Twister stood there with a guilty look on her face. “Alright, two things are gunna happen,” his daughter stood up straight and looked her dad right in the eyes, “first, no TV for a week.”

“A week?!” The young vulpine exclaimed.

“Do I hear two weeks?” He asked, but there was no response, “Good. Second, what if, I go up to the attic and find my old toolbox and gadgets from when I was your age.”

The little fox’s eyes lit up as she gasped. “Really? My own toolbox? Gadgets too?”

Tails gave her a loving smile, “So you can tinker before and after school. Weekends and holidays too, of course. But not at school. That is the only condition, understood?”

She nodded her head in enthusiasm, “Yes Dad!” Twister ran up to her dad and hugged his legs, not wanting to knock him down like she did before, “Thank you so much!”

Tails chuckled and gave his daughter a pat on the head, “Now fair warning. These tools are like mine that I have in my office. They are much older but they are compatible with the old gadgets in the attic.”

“Could we go to the junkyard to see if there is anything I could mess with, if I run out of things to make with?” Her fluffy fox tail was wagging side to side in excitement. 

Tails chuckled, “Of course we can. But for now, you got to do that homework. So, off you go.”

Twister let out an exaggeration groan, “But it’s too easy. It’s all basic stuff I already know.”

“Twist, you’re in high school, grade ten to be exact. They couldn’t let a 7 year old get too ahead because they felt that it would be too much for you.”

The young fox raised a brow, “And what did you think about that when they told you?”

“I thought that was a load of scrap metal,” his daughter giggled as he continued, “you can basically fly circles around them when it comes to education. But nonetheless, you gotta do the homework.” 

Tails followed Twister up the stairs, the little fox went to her room and Tails opened up the attic and went to go look for his old stuff. The attic was filled with old things that Sticks and Tails didn’t use anymore, old projects, furniture, parts, some spears. Tails did a double take before realising that it was just Sticks’ old fishing spear. 

All the boxes, knickknacks and dodads were covered with years of dust. He took a deep breath, taking in all the memories that filled the attic. Some good, like old toys that the kids played with when they were younger. There were also bad memories to balance the good. Such as a box filled with scrap metal of old projects that blew up in his face and sent Tails to the hospital. The 28 year old stood near the entrance of the attic for a few more minutes before deciding to get to work. Tails shuffled some old boxes of miscellaneous things around until he found the toolbox. “Alright, that’s the tools found, now just gotta find the-,” he was cut off when he heard the sounds of beeping. His ear flicked to the direction of the sound. For a second, he thought he was just hearing things. That was until he heard the beeping again, this time it was more consistent. Tails moved slowly around the area, trying not to make any noise. His eyes swivelled around the room and ears trying to pick the source of the sound. Tails felt like he was getting close right up til he tripped over an old rug lying on the floor, falling face first onto the dusty floor.

“Tails?” Sticks shouted, “are you ok? I heard a thud!”

He groaned and shook his head, “Yeah I just tripped.” Tails sat up and dusted himself off, suddenly his left ear flicked to the left of him, the beeping was right next to him. He turned to the direction of the sound and saw a medium sized box, covered in old blankets and tarps. “We need to have a yard sale or something! There’s too much junk up here!”

“Hey, you never know when you need the stuff up there! There could be a clone apocalypse just around the corner!”

He sighed and whispered to himself as he uncovered the box, “I really hope she’s not off her meds.” He pulled the box out of its spot and placed it in front of him. 

It was labeled ‘Mystic Jungle inventions’. Tails opened the box and saw many inventions that helped him and his brother when he was still around. The Miles Electric, buddy bot and... his Chaos Emerald Locator. It was the source of the beeping. Tails reached into the box and pulled it out. It only ever turned on when it detected, well, a Chaos Emerald, “That’s impossible. An emerald hadn’t been sighted in years. But, then why has this...” 

There were questions that raced into the inventor's mind. Why show up now? Why disappear? Why the Flicky was a Chaos Emerald in the Ice Zone?! They never went anywhere near that place. Sure they might have gone to volcanoes or scorching deserts. The difference was that people could travel safely through these places. 

The Ice Zone was uninhabitable; ice storms raged through the land blinding your sight, temperatures dropped so low the saltiest of water would freeze within seconds, avalanches could be triggered with one sneeze. It was a dangerous and barren place. He needed answers, he needed to know. Maybe if he found this emerald... 

Tails shook his head of the thought and went back to staring at the screen of the locator. Within a second he rushed down both set of stairs, passing Sticks as she called out and tried to ask what was wrong. Tails was out the door before she could get any response. Twister opened her door and looked to her mother, who only got a shrug in response. Sticks looked to the door and wondered what got her husband so worked up.

It was about 5 hours later, Tails had almost reached his destination. He had prepared everything he needed within 2 hours; goggles, snow jackets, snow boots, ect. The fox was currently flying in his plane, T3, through a snowstorm. He couldn’t see all the ice and snow raging past the glass, thankfully it wasn't as heavy as the weather radar predicted but there was a chance it could get worse at any time. But he had to turn on autopilot when it became too dangerous to fly on his own. Tails was smart enough to install a special sensor that helps the plane manoeuvre around obstacles that may get in the way. He sat back on his seat, head tilted to the side as he looked out the window and watched the frozen particles fly by. 

He didn’t know what he was going to find, an Emerald sure, but there has to be a reason why it was there. The Chaos Emeralds had mysterious behaviour, at one point they had limited energy and then the next so much power that they could crack the earth open like an egg and even repair the planet. His ear flicked as a beep was heard on his plane’s radar, it was nearly time to land. Tails started getting the locator ready as the plane began descending. Fiddling with the gadget so it would be able to help him in the weather. Basically, he would end up playing hot or cold trying to find it. 

Tails felt the plane’s landing gear hit a few bumps of ice as it came into contact with the ground. But thankfully, it was a safe landing. He pulled the hood of the thick jacket of his head and placed the goggles over his eyes. With a push of a button he opened up the hatch of the cockpit and the freezing air came rushing in. The fox immediately began to shiver at the sudden drop of temperature. He wrapped his three tails around himself, he probably should have come around to the zone when there wasn’t a snow storm but he didn’t want to risk losing the emerald. Tails jumped out of the plane and began his search. 

Tails pointed the device in different directions as he walked around in the snow, it would make beeping noises in one direction then suddenly stop. This resulted in him having to point it in another direction. He kept his eyes on the screen of the device, every so often he had to either wipe snow off his goggles or screen. It was as if something was manipulating his locator and taking him somewhere. He kept following the direction the beeps was taking him, it was getting frustrating. It just kept changing direction, what was it doi- BANG! 

Tails had walked face first into a hard, cold, metallic wall and fell into the snow, flat on his back. The fox sat up and groaned, rubbing his nose to sooth the pain. His glare to the wall turned to confusion as he heard the echoing of metal rang in his ear. He stood up and dusted some of the snow off. Tails approached the metal wall and saw there was red paint, peeling off from the harsh elements. 

Curiosity took hold of Tails and dusted the snow off the wall, revealing a logo he knows all too well. He took a few steps back and lifted his eyes to see that the wall was a giant robot. A robot that he hasn’t seen in 20 years, his eyes went wide in shock and his breathing started to quicken. He backed up and tripped over his own feet. His eyes locked on the remnants of the robot; it laid on its side, old holes from the battle covered in ice, echoes of creaking metal could be heard every so often. 

The beeping ripped Tails from his thoughts and looked down to the locator. He pointed the locator away from the bot, the beeping stopped. He pointed it at the robot and in the opposite direction repeatedly. The fox looked at the device and groaned, “It must have picked up the energy waves from the machine.” He growled in frustration and threw the device away from him. 

Tails leaned onto the bot, slid down and sat in the snow. He wrapped his arm around his knees and curled up. “There was nothing here but a stupid piece of junk. Nothing but another reminder that he’s gone and there is nothing I can do about,” he thought. The fox sat there in the snow, ignoring the cold, feeling not but sadness, pain and disappointment. He hoped he would find answers, closure, something. But here he was, nothing to show for running off unexpectedly. He ran off over a stupid device that just picked up weak energy waves of a stupid deadly robot.

His thoughts were cut off once more by the beeping of the locator. This time, the locator was beeping rapidly as if it was a bomb just nanoseconds away from blowing up. Tails stood up and looked to where he threw the device with a frustrated look. He stomped over to the device and picked it up. 

“What now?! You picked up some energy from a metal plate?! Or are just going to lead me to another red-,” Tails cut himself off when he looked in front of him, “herring.” In front of him was what looked like a giant meteor that froze as it crashed. It’s tail pointed to the sky at a fifty degree angle as more ice formed another tail to whirled around it. In the centre head of this mysterious formation, was a dull yellow glow. Tails let out a breath of disbelief. 

It was here, right here. In front of his very eyes. Tails cracked a smile and started laughing, “It’s really here. I can’t believe it.” He pocketed his locator and placed both his hands on the ice, “An emerald has really been here all this time!” He let out a joyous laugh and fell back into the snow. The fox soon stopped after a realisation hit him, “Right! I’ll need to get some tools from the plane to dig it out! Oh, but I don’t have anything to get it out.” He pondered for a minute, looking away from the ice formation. 

While his back was turned, two chips formed where his hands were placed on the ice, beginning to get bigger and bigger. Tails looked to the robot, “Maybe I could find something to chisel the ice. There has to be something in there. Come on Miles, it’s not like the emerald can’t just break itself out.” His ears twitched as he heard a cracking sound behind him. He turned around and his eyes widened as the cracks began to spread. 

As it did that, in the head of the formation the glow gained more colours as they spread; green, purple, blue, white, cyan and red. The fox’s ears dropped as the colours began to glow bright and the ice began to shake, “uh oh.” 

The ice shattered into millions of pieces and the energy inside exploded out across the zone, pushing Tails back and making him fall to the ground. Piece of ice flew across the area, small pieces fell onto Tails as he curled up in the snow out of instinct. 

After recovering from the blow, he slowly picked himself up and saw the snowstorm had stopped. Most likely from the sudden Chaos energy surge. The fox looked to where the ice was and saw all seven of the Chaos emeralds floating over something. Tails stared in shock, all he could hear was his breath and the sound of the emeralds. 

“All. Seven? In one place?” Before he could move the emeralds shot up towards the sky, circling each other as if they were dancing and flew away in different directions. 

Tails stared at the sky as he got to his feet. How in the world could all seven be in one place? It didn’t make any sense. He turned his gaze to where the Emeralds once were and almost screamed at what he saw. 

The fox ran forward and tripped over himself as he tried skidding to a halt. He scrambled back a bit and knelt over the gift that the emeralds left behind. 

In the snow, a hedgehog with royal blue fur and had yellow streaks that littered his fur and quills. His muzzle, stomachs and arms were peach colour. He had red shoes with one large strap on each, held down with a golden buckle. The hedgehog's breath was quick and his body was shaking from the cold. There was no doubt in Tails’ mind, he knew who this was. He hadn’t changed except for the yellow. A name popped into his mind as he picked the young mobian and held him close. The name rolled out of his mouth, but not of sadness. But confusion

“Sonic?”


End file.
